It's Hard Having to Be Barbie

I am not paying attention to the controversy over how ESPN reporter Britt McHenry berated another woman who works for a company that dared to tow McHenry's car. Well, I guess I am just a little bit, or I wouldn't be writing about it here.

It was covered on All In With Chris Hayes yesterday, so I watched that. And I have to say that -- other than amazement about McHenry's cluelessly entitled, class-warrior mindset -- the thing that struck me most about it was the contrast with another segment on the show.

This is what McHenry looked like during this "bad moment" of her life, captured on a closed circuit system at the towing company:


This is what she looks like when she's been Barbified and sent out to interview male athletes and be eye candy for ESPN's assumed-to-be male, heterosexual viewers:




And this is what Dave Weigel, who was featured in another segment of All In, looks like:


Now I know that it's a bit simplistic to compare the appearance of a sports reporter and a serious policy reporter. But it's just a reminder that the standards for appearance for women in media are just a tiny bit higher than they are for men.